


Reservations

by youtounihiru



Category: The Alliance Alive
Genre: Angst, Other, chapter 20 spoilers, literally that's all this is, siblings being sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 09:19:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16829713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youtounihiru/pseuds/youtounihiru
Summary: Galil and Azura finally address the elephant in the room. Contains spoilers for chapter 20.Don't @ me for the perspective. Or the bad writing.also if you ship Galil and Azura stay the fuck away from everything I write. they're adopted siblings you fuck





	Reservations

**Author's Note:**

> Galil and Azura finally address the elephant in the room. Contains spoilers for chapter 20.  
> Don't @ me for the perspective. Or the bad writing.  
> also if you ship Galil and Azura stay the fuck away from everything I write. they're adopted siblings you fuck

"About today, at the pub..."

Azura's head swings towards me before I can even consider finishing the thought, displeasure clear from the purse of her lips. It's evident she'd expected this conversation from the moment I sat down beside her, if the tense air is of any indication. But she clearly hadn’t wanted it, hoped against it even, and yet again I had disappointed her.

“… I'm sorry. I didn’t mean to sound harsh or anything, I just…” She knits her hands in her lap, swinging her legs absently over the ledge of the cliff overlooking the sea. There's a moment’s paranoia about the possibility of either of us falling, but I suppress it with some difficulty. There are more important things to be worried about now. “If we start mourning now, we might not stop, and then things won't ever change. I don’t think… Dad wouldn’t want that.”

I shake my head, then becoming increasingly aware of the futility of the motion. There's a chance she might sense the movement, but it's much better to convey these things aloud. For her sake.

“No, I understand. That's not what I meant.” She's confused. I don’t need to see the furrow of her brow or the question in her eyes to know that. I think back to earlier, to our short-lived excursion to the now somber pub – she'd kept her head down coming in, yet the blindfold was stained. “I get that we don't really have the time to be sad right now, but… Azura, you were crying too, weren’t you?”

Silence. Somehow the lack of an answer says far more than anything she could have.

“You really shouldn’t hold it all in, you know. It's no good for you.” I can only hope she doesn’t catch the hypocrisy of my words; it's taking every ounce of effort I have to speak past the ache in my throat, and my eyes already sting with new tears. But it seems to work – her lip trembles, and she squeezes her hands together hard enough to pale the knuckles, a dead giveaway of her own struggle. She's always been strong, much stronger than me… but there's only so much a person can take, and as of late she's been pushed far over her limit.

I move to touch her face, lightly run my thumb over her cheek, just beneath the brim of her blindfold – and, expectedly, she recoils, unwilling to give up the ruse of being unaffected even now.

“Don't look at me, Galil.” It's meant as a demand, but I can hear it in her voice – that telltale tremor that always takes her on the verge of tears makes it sound more of a plea than anything. “I…”

For once I don’t fixate on the possibility of upsetting her further, moving without worrying about consequence. She doesn’t withdraw further as I unknot the fabric hiding her expression, and her pallid eyes, brimming with tears, hesitantly meet mine as it slips away – and with the reveal comes a new wave of guilt, along with the nagging question of how much she actually “sees” with her Signimancy. I smile nonetheless, a forced, shaky thing that hardly helps in keeping me from the verge of breakdown.

“See? I knew it. You should really be more honest with… yourself…” She clings to me the moment my own façade breaks, trembling as she lets out miserable, hiccupping sobs into the cloth of my cloak, and I wrap my arms tightly around her, struggling not to devolve into a similar state for her sake. It's nostalgic, almost, reminiscent of that painful time oh so many years ago when a younger Azura informed me through near incoherent sone that her… our mother wouldn’t be coming home again. The shock had kept me from falling apart then, but now… It's hard to hold back the tears, especially hearing her cry so genuinely for the first time in ages.

We both calm down after some time, her muffled wailing replaced by numbness and the unending drone of rainfall, and for a while neither of us say a word, lost in our individual thoughts, afraid to break the silence. As usual, she's the first to speak up.

“I miss him so much already.” Her tone is tired, weak. Crying clearly took a lot out of her, and I can’t say I don’t feel equally drained. We’ll both sleep well tonight, if nothing else.

“So do I.” There's another moment of silence, then she lets out a short, almost bitter laugh.

“I just realized something. You know what this means?” She withdraws a little, facing me with a smile that clearly wants to be anything but. “It means you… we'll never be able to… taste his baking again, oh, Dad…” Fresh tears well up as she speaks, and she's quick to hide them, sniffling and rubbing her eyes with her hands.

“… I'm sorry, Azura.” It's painful to speak, with the lingering lump in my throat threatening to choke me up, but the overwhelming need to apologize prevails. “You've dealt with so much… You shouldn’t have to feel like this, like you're alone in the world n–”

Her fist slams into my arm, just hard enough to hurt, and I flinch instinctively, looking up to see her looking frustrated – and incredibly hurt. Ah, hell. What had I said wrong?

“What was that for? That hu–”

“Don’t try and act like you're above this!” she interrupts quickly, pushing her hands against my chest. “You were crying too a second ago, weren’t you? I bet you're still crying!” I swipe at my teary eyes, a little ashamed. I hadn’t intended to come off as unaffected – my display in the pub had made my feelings perfectly clear, even if I couldn’t be sure they were justified.

“Besides.” Azura withdraws in a huff, crossing her arms and smiling confidently. “I'm not alone. You're still here, after all! Right?” Her smile wavers, and she hesitates before unfolding her arms to instead cling to my sleeve with one hand. “… Don’t ever disappear, Galil. I'll… I'll never forgive you if you do.”

“… I won’t.” I know it's silly, but I can’t help but tear up yet again, though the feeling is almost bittersweet now. I take both of her hands in my own, staring her down as if to convey my feelings despite her inability to read my expression. “I won’t go anywhere. I promise.” She paused a moment, as if considering my sincerity, then smiles slightly, shaking her head.

“Jeez, you're such a crybaby.” The teasing is gentle, and I smile weakly, sniffling lightly.

“That’s me. Crybaby Galil.” She laughs, the sound genuine, if not a bit awkward.

“… Thank you, though.” She slowly pulls her hands from my grasp, patting around lightly for the blindfold until she locates it, then quickly ties it back on. “Now. We really should get going. The others are gonna be worried if we're gone much longer. And we still gotta find the Ether Gears!”

"... Right." I rise to my feet, then help her to her own, relieved when she doesn't let go of my hand afterwards. "Let's go, then."


End file.
